Big Three-less Spurs give Heat fits

MIAMI — Some players might consider the task of facing the defending NBA champions with a severely short-handed roster to be a suicide mission.

Spurs guard Gary Neal considered it an opportunity.

With four of his high-profile teammates returned to San Antonio to get a head start on their weekend, Neal and the Spurs took the Miami Heat into the final minute Thursday before falling 105-100 at AmericanAirlines Arena.

No Tim Duncan. No Tony Parker. No Manu Ginobili. And yet the Spurs were able to put a scare into LeBron James and Co.

“It was a great opportunity, and I think everybody looked at it that way,” Neal said. “Everybody looked at it as a challenge to show the world what we were capable of.”

Earlier in the day, coach Gregg Popovich made the controversial decision to send his 30-something Big Three, plus 25-year-old shooting guard Danny Green, home to rest on the heels of the team’s longest continuous road trip of the season.

The Spurs were on their fourth game in five nights, wheezing to the finish line of a November slate that featured 10 road games, a record for the month.

“If our best players were 23 years old or 25 years old, we might have done something different,” Popovich said. “It’s pretty easy to understand. I don’t think it’s so amazing.”

The move drew criticism from fans and media alike — and a reprimand from commissioner David Stern, who in a statement promised “substantial sanctions” for a decision he termed “unacceptable.”

When making the call to send his stars home, Popovich said, he didn’t take into account the Spurs’ marquee opponent or the game’s high-profile slot on TNT’s national broadcast.

“It has nothing to do with the Miami Heat or TV, or anything,” Popovich said. “You deal with the schedule as best you can and do the wisest thing for your particular team.”

With Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson already sidelined with ailments, the Spurs brought nine bodies into Thursday’s game, all but ensuring the end of their five-game winning streak.

They nearly won anyway.

Tiago Splitter had 18 points and nine rebounds, Matt Bonner turned in a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double, and rookie Nando De Colo celebrated his first NBA start by scoring a season-high 15 points.

The Spurs (13-4) were ahead by seven points after De Colo’s second 3-pointer with 4:48 to go, and were still on top 98-97 as the clock ticked under a minute.

“We have faith in everybody on our roster,” Bonner said. “We think we have one of the deepest teams in the league. We can go out and compete.”

It wasn’t until the final 60 seconds that the Heat’s vast talent advantage finally took over.

Ray Allen’s 3-pointer with 22.6 seconds to go, after James nearly turned the ball over on a drive, gave Miami (11-3) a 100-98 edge, its first of the fourth quarter.

On the ensuing possession, James and Udonis Haslem double-teamed Neal, stripping him of the ball and allowing Miami to seal the game with foul shots.

“My hat is off to the Spurs,” said Allen, who had 11 of his 20 points in the fourth. “They pushed us to the limit.”

This morning, the Spurs — all of them — will wake up in their homes in San Antonio, decompressing from 10 days on the road, preparing for Saturday’s game against the league-leading Memphis Grizzlies and perhaps wondering about the meaning of the phrase “substantial sanctions.”

For one night, nine Spurs role players nearly took down the league champions.

“As an NBA player, it’s your job whether you’re short-handed or whether you have too many hands,” Neal said. “You go out and you compete and you leave it all on the court.